2002.03.25

This was written 3/20/2002. "My bad" on not posting it before the weekend. This column also appears on Wrestling Planet.

Saturday (3/23) I am scheduled to battle Al B. Damm in Coshocton, Ohio for the IWA U.S. title. Al B. Damm and I have wrestled each other probably 20 times in the past year. (This is going somewhere...)

There are several dynamics in wrestling, especially indy wrestling that make events like tomorrow challenging. First, for the most part no one reading this has ever seen me wrestle. You could love my columns (it could happen) and walk passed me on the street and not know it. My point is I don't generally receive and instant reaction when I walk through the curtain.

Second, tomorrow night is the IWA's first trip to Coshocton. The crowd does not know any of us. The crowd will not be familiar with any of the wrestlers. The crowd will not immediately know how to react to anyone.

Third, the crowd has never seen any of the 20 previous Al B. Damm vs. Mark Mattis matches. They don't know the history that exists between us and they don't know the significance of the match. As example (not a comparison) we have all seen the millions of Rock vs. Jericho matches over the last 6-months. They are both great workers. They have had some good matches together. The first time we saw Rock vs. Jericho was a "wow, that was great" moment. By the end of the feud, most of had the "been there done that" attitude.

In the days of thriving territories, 2 wrestlers would face each every night of the week. They would, in many cases, deliver the same match from beginning to end 6 or 7 times per week. It was a new crowd that had never seen the match. It was new to them.

Let's fast-forward to a few years later... (New Alanis Morissette CD is GOOD)

The IWA has a weekly TV show in Columbus, Ohio. The Mattis vs. Damm feud has played out over the past several months for the (TV) hometown fans. So, we cannot simply 'redo' a previous match. We have to do something fresh, for the 21-st time. We have to do something that makes sense for the fans at home. We have to do something that will captivate and pull in the new fans that have never seen us before.

Now here is the challenging part; we have to do all of the things mentioned above... without use of words. We have to accomplish all of these things with our bodies and not our mouths.

When it is all said and done, we will pack up, move on, and figure out how to do it again the following week. I guess my point is, there is a lot more to wrestling than wearing spandex and throwing some 'cool' moves together.

Check out your local indys! These guys (myself included) are busting butt and trying to give fans a show they will remember.